At the tip of the Seward Peninsula, nestled between the rising mass of Cape Prince of Wales and the crashing waves of the Bering Strait, lies the community of Wales. And earlier this month, it hosted one of the largest Alaska Native dance festivals in the state.

The Wales Kingikmiut Dance Festival is now in its 18th year. It’s a high-energy, late-night celebration of family, community and cultural heritage. 10 groups from around the region and as far as Anchorage flew in to the village over Labor Day weekend, to sing, dance, drum, and talk.

They also came to heal. The Native dance tradition has been revived in Wales and other communities over the past 20 years, after decades of cultural suppression by colonial forces. Today, as one elder put it, “coming here makes us feel whole.”

And for a group like the King Island Dancers, the festival means a chance to reconnect with their home. King Island, which can be seen from Wales on a clear day, hasn’t been inhabited since the 1960s. Members of the group now live throughout Alaska, but they reunite with each other and with the songs of their ancestors here.

Many at the festival expressed a deep sense of both needing to live up to those ancestors and wanting to ensure the tradition is preserved. They raised concerns about whether there are young people committed to learning and practicing. But the festival is showcasing the strength of this powerful form of expression, and its enduring ability to lift the spirit.

Listen above to hear more: the sounds and voices of the Wales Kingikmiut Dance Festival.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/09/29/at-wales-kingikmiut-festival-dancing-to-heal/feed/131264Alvanna-Stimpfle Named a “Native American 40 Under 40” Awardeehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2017/09/01/alvanna-stimpfle-named-a-native-american-40-under-40-awardee/
Fri, 01 Sep 2017 18:00:33 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=30868The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development President said of Alvanna-Stimpfle and the other 39 winners, “whether it’s in business, tribal government, journalism, academia, or non-profits, 40 under 40 winners (are) shining examples for all of us to follow.”]]>

According to a press release, Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle from the King Island Native Community and Nome was nominated for the award due to her leadership, initiative, and dedication to her community.

President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Chris James said of Alvanna-Stimpfle and the other 39 winners, “whether it’s in business, tribal government, journalism, academia, or non-profits, 40 under 40 winners (are) shining examples for all of us to follow.”

The “40 Under 40” award recipients will be honored on September 6th during a NCAIED regional conference in Washington state.

Nome native Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle is ready to give her speech as co-keynote speaker for the 50th annual Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks. She will be joining Emil Notti on stage Thursday morning to give their joint keynote address.

Alvanna-Stimpfle says it’s an honor to share the stage with a leader who was present at the start of AFN conventions.

“To talk about our future and where we are going, it’s an honor, because I am truly standing on the shoulders of giants, of leaders in our native community,” said Alvanna-Stimpfle. “The thoughts and the opportunities that I have as a young person, we are truly blessed to have that because of all the work they’ve done.”

The theme for the 50th convention is Reflect, Refresh, Renew. According to the AFN website, attendees will reflect on the challenges, innovations, and successes of the Alaska Native community since AFN’s founding in 1966; refresh their collective accomplishments and aspirations; and renew their commitment to enriching the future of Alaska Native peoples.

Alvanna-Stimpfle says she is humbled to be in a position that allows her to help preserve King Islanders’ language and dancing.

“So, as chief of the tribe, my purpose has been to bring our Council and our families together in a way that’s meaningful, supportive, and loving, so that we can be a strong community again,” stated Alvanna-Stimpfle.

Besides spending her time handling her responsibilities as chief, Alvanna-Stimpfle is executive director for the Inuit Arctic Business alliance, participates in regular yoga classes, and meditates. She says lately, she has been doing a lot of meditating and praying to prepare for the AFN convention, in addition to writing her speech.

“And there’s certainly a lot of prayer, prayer that I can articulate the justice our native community deserves, so it’s a collective process, because it’s an honor to speak on behalf of Alaska Native people. So, it’s not something I’m doing alone; it’s something I’m doing with many of my friends and leaders across the state, who have mentored me and guided me in the right way,” mentioned the co-keynote speaker.

This year’s AFN convention will commence Thursday morning and last until Saturday afternoon. Alvanna-Stimpfle is scheduled to give her co-keynote address Thursday morning at 10:40.

]]>25654New California Law Could Jeopardize Alaska’s Ivory Markethttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/07/01/new-california-law-could-jeopardize-alaskas-ivory-market/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/07/01/new-california-law-could-jeopardize-alaskas-ivory-market/#commentsFri, 01 Jul 2016 16:00:52 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=23600A new law in California bans the sale of all ivory products, including walrus ivory.]]>

He’s working on one of those teeth today. Dust flies through the air as he drills tiny holes into the two-inch piece of ivory that he’ll later fill in with baleen.

John I. Kokuluk drills holes into a walrus tooth at his King Island carving booth. Photo: Emily Russell/KNOM.

Kokuluk was born and raised in Nome, but his family is from King Island. When members of the Inupiat community were forced to relocate to the mainland in the 1960s, they brought the longstanding tradition of ivory carving with them.

“It’s in our culture. It was passed down long before my time,” Kokuluk explains. “I feel fortunate to have this talent.”

Just like Kokuluk, Susie Silook has been carving for decades. She’s originally from the St. Lawrence Island community of Gambell.

Sheffield says she understands the effort to protect elephant and other tusked animals in Africa from poachers, but they’re not one and the same with the marine mammals she studies in the Bering Strait region.

“The general public thinks ivory, elephant, dead elephant rotting in the sun, beautiful elephant with [a] little baby because it’s always on the TV on the documentaries,” Sheffield says. “What they don’t see is walrus ivory, legal harvest, food on the table, economic benefit to rural Alaskans.”

It’s that economic benefit that has many worried.

Carver Susie Silook says ivory brings much-needed cash into rural communities like Gambell. She remembers a buyer from Southeast Alaska traveling to the St. Lawrence Island community in the mid-1990s.

“Within three days, he had purchased $20,000 worth of arts and crafts from the people in just one village, and this is just one buyer,” Silook explains.

Ivory carvings and masks on display at Maruskiya’s in Nome. Photo: Emily Russell/KNOM.

But now, buyers are reacting to California’s new legislation. Robert James manages Maruskiya’s, a well-known Native art shop on Nome’s Front Street. He buys from carvers like John Kokuluk, Sr., and sells their crafts in town and on the road.

James had planned to stop at this year’s American Indian Art Show outside of San Francisco.

“Because of the legislation that passed, I don’t think we’ll ever be back there,” James said. “So, we might have to find a different show.”

Back at the King Island carving room, John Kokuluk, Sr., continues to drill tiny holes in the walrus tooth he holds in one hand.

He worries about the confusion the new California law will create for buyers, but Kokuluk says that won’t stop him from carrying on the tradition his ancestors have been practicing for centuries.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/07/01/new-california-law-could-jeopardize-alaskas-ivory-market/feed/323600AFN Announces Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle As Keynote Speaker for 2016 Conventionhttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/06/03/afn-announces-megan-alvanna-stimpfle-as-keynote-speaker-for-2016-convention/
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 21:40:13 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=23200This year marks the 50th anniversary of the convention, which will take place in Fairbanks between October 20-22, 2016.]]>

The Alaska Federation of Natives announced its two keynote speakers for this year’s convention, and both are from western Alaska. The AFN Board of Directors selected Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle to speak alongside Emil Notti.

Notti is an Athabascan from the Yukon River village of Koyukuk. He served as AFN’s first president and played an important role in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

While her family is originally from King Island, Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle was born and raised in Nome.

“I feel truly honored and thank the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors for their confidence in me,” Alvanna-Stimpfle said in response to the announcement.

Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle. Photo courtesy of Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle.

She earned her Master’s in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and served as a legislative assistant for Senator Lisa Murkowski in Washington DC.

“My generation has many options in life,” Alvanna-Stimpfle said. While she says there’s still a lot of work to be done to preserve and promote Alaska Native culture, Alvanna-Stimpfle remains optimistic.

“We are empowered with the political and economic tools to assert who we are as Alaska’s indigenous people and live our way of life on our lands,” she said.

Alvanna-Stimpfle is currently working alongside Kawerak, Norton Sound Health Corporation, elected leaders and the Native community on reforming sewer and water systems in the region. To do that, she says the system needs to be reformed statewide.

Alvanna-Stimpfle also serves on the Nome Port Commission and is an elected member of the King Island Tribal Council.

“AFN is honored to have both distinguished and emerging leaders speak to our delegates,” said AFN President Julie Kitka in the announcement of the keynote speakers.

AFN is the largest annual gathering of Natives in Alaska. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the convention, which will take place in Fairbanks between October 20-22, 2016.

]]>23200Despite Federal Changes, ‘Eskimo’ Still in Use in Western Alaskahttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/30/despite-federal-changes-eskimo-still-in-use-in-western-alaska/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/30/despite-federal-changes-eskimo-still-in-use-in-western-alaska/#commentsMon, 30 May 2016 15:00:48 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=23120President Obama recently removed the words "Eskimo" and "Aleut" from two pieces of federal legislation, but it may take another generation for it to fade out of Alaska’s Arctic.]]>

The term “Eskimo” is divisive across much of the Arctic, but it’s still being used in western Alaska. Some identify with it, while others want to see change.

President Obama recently removed the words “Eskimo” and “Aleut” from two pieces of federal legislation, but it may take another generation for it to fade out of Alaska’s Arctic.

“It wasn’t until I went to graduate school at Montreal at McGill University for English as a Second Language that I got in trouble for using that word in one of my classes,” confessed Yaayuk Alvanna-Stimpfle.

The word Alvanna-Stimpfle is referring to is ‘Eskimo.’

“We all identify with that word ‘Eskimo,’ as to who we are,” she explained, adding, “my generation, we grew up speaking our native language as well.”

Alvanna-Stimpfle is a retired teacher from Nome Public Schools, where she taught her native language, Inupiaq, along with English as a Second Language. She’s now in her fifth year directing Kawerak’s Eskimo Heritage Program.

“It was a folklorist — an anthropologist — that thought of the title ‘Eskimo Heritage Program,’ because it is about our history.”

In some cases, the word Eskimo doesn’t bother Alvanna-Stimpfle. She grew up around it, but she said others are more resistant to it.

“Through education and through awareness, our younger generations try not to use that word ‘Eskimo’ or try not to identify with it because that was just a name that was given to categorize our people.”

Hattie Keller is 25 years old. Her family is from Shishmaref, but she was born and raised in Nome.

“Atiġa Iviilik. Kigiqtaamiuguzruŋa. My name is Hattie Keller,” Keller translates. “My Eskimo name is Iviilik, and I am from Shishmaref.”

Keller describes ‘Iviilik’ as her ‘Eskimo’ name, but she’s quick to clarify.

“I see myself as an Inupiaq, so when people do ask me what is my ethnicity, instead of saying ‘Eskimo,’ I do say ‘Inupiaq,’” Keller explained.

She’s working towards an Associate’s Degree in Tribal Management and her Bachelor’s in Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development through UAF’s Northwest Campus.

Keller traveled to Fairbanks earlier this year for Tribal Management classes. She said, even there, she had to clarify her ethnicity to other Alaska Natives.

“I met with people, and they were from a different culture, they were Athabascan, and I was the only quote-un-quote ‘Eskimo’ in the room,” Keller explained. “They asked me, ‘What do you prefer to be called, and what do your people prefer?’ and I told them it’s a personal preference.”

Keller said this happened after the Alaska Airlines “Meet our Eskimo” campaign, which, after public outcry, the company replaced with “Meet the Eskimo.”

Keller said she doesn’t get offended when people use the term ‘Eskimo,’ unless it’s meant to be derogatory. She’s a member of Nome Eskimo Community, a federally recognized tribe from the Nome area.

Along with Nome Eskimo Community and the Eskimo Heritage Program, western Alaska is also home to the Eskimo Walrus Commission and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Arnold Brower is the Executive Director of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

“I think ‘Eskimo’ covers it all for the broader range of representation for our subsistence way of life,” Brower said.

He considers himself Eskimo, and he said it’s a useful term for the commission.

“To be inclusive of Yup’ik whalers and Canadian whalers and Alaskan whalers, [the name] just came out naturally as Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission,” explained Brower.

But Yaayuk Alvanna-Stimpfle doesn’t think the term will be around forever. She started brainstorming a few years back about how to remove the word from the Eskimo Heritage Program. It hasn’t changed yet, but she thinks her program and others like it will give in to generational shifts.

With the terms ‘Eskimo’ and ‘Aleut’ removed from two pieces of federal legislation, it’s already fading from the Washington bureaucracy.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/30/despite-federal-changes-eskimo-still-in-use-in-western-alaska/feed/223120King Island Tribal Council Proposes Partnership with Nome Public Schoolshttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/11/king-island-tribal-council-proposes-partnership-with-nome-public-schools/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/11/king-island-tribal-council-proposes-partnership-with-nome-public-schools/#commentsWed, 11 May 2016 17:12:37 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=22878The school board has also approved a new literacy program for Nome Elementary and new social studies textbooks for Nome-Beltz Jr/Sr High.]]>

NOME, Alaska — As this school year winds down, the Board of Education for Nome Public Schools is looking ahead to next year. At a regular meeting Tuesday night, the school board approved the purchase of a new literacy program for Nome Elementary School as well as new social studies textbooks for Nome-Beltz Jr/Sr High School.

The board also heard a new proposal during public comments. Megan Alvanna-Stimpfle — the Vice Chief of the King Island Tribal Council — asked the school district to partner with the council and apply for a grant from the Alaska Native Education Program.

She said the funding would provide students with an afterschool activity focused on Iñupiaq culture and language. In the longer term, she said the council wants to work toward an even larger language program, like an immersion school within the district.

“We have this opportunity to save a language and time is of essence for us to collectively act,” she said. “We’re ready to be partners because we can’t afford to not act.”

Superintendent Shawn Arnold said he’ll arrange a meeting between district officials and the King Island Tribal Council to discuss the partnership further.

The school board is scheduled to meet again on May 24. Their work session will focus on budget amendments for fiscal year 2016.

]]>http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2016/05/11/king-island-tribal-council-proposes-partnership-with-nome-public-schools/feed/122878Researchers Seek Funding for Buoy Providing Vital Wave Data in the Bering Seahttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/09/01/researchers-seek-funding-for-buoy-providing-vital-wave-data-in-the-bering-sea/
Tue, 02 Sep 2014 01:41:56 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=11614A buoy afloat in the Bering Sea near King Island gathers wave readings that are live-streamed for local users, but with funding set to expire at the end of this season, the buoy needs a home and money to keep it operating. ]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/09/2014-09-01-Bering-Sea-Buoy.mp3

There’s a buoy afloat in the Bering Sea, about 30 miles west of King Island. Every hour, it gathers temperature and wave height information that is live-streamed for local users. But funding from Western Alaska LLC is set to expire at the end of this season, which means the buoy is in need of a home and money to keep it operating.

David Atkinson, with the University of Victoria in British Columbia, initially deployed the buoy in 2011 for a year-long project for the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s actually the only buoy streaming wave information from the Bering Strait, and that data is in high-demand to make maritime operations safer. Atkinson secured funding from Western AK LLC to keep the buoy running until 2014, but now he needs to look for other sources.

“It can probably be deployed for about $10,000 per year—per season,” said Atkinson. “So if the buoy is to go out again in future years, that amount of money needs to be gather up in some way, shape, or form.”

One way Atkinson thinks funding could be acquired is through a buy-in with local users of the buoy’s information. He said the National Weather Service, NOAA, Red Dog Mine, NSEDC and others in Nome and surrounding villages have all utilized the live-streaming website.

There were over 700 hits during the first year. “Which isn’t bad considering the small user group that really cares about it,” said Atkinson. “And the hits rise and fall—whenever there’s a storm coming the number of hits soared.”

According to one comment from Norton Sound Seafood Projects’s operations manager, “This information will impact crab and halibut fishermen as well as subsistence users… Planning has greatly improved and the trips are much safer.”

Ellen Tyler with the Alaska Ocean Observing System has been working with Atkinson to keep the buoy running. She said she’s coming to Nome in early October to hear from people interested in becoming partial owners of the buoy. Those who assist with funding can have a voice in where it’s deployed each season.

Tyler said that kind of flexibility is not unusual, since there’s such a dearth of data collection on the Bering Sea.

“You know there’s just no other wave buoys that are out in the middle of the ocean like this,” said Tyler. “And so from the researcher’s perspective, there’s no data, so anywhere you put it would be new information!”

Atkinson and Tyler certainly have to be flexible with this buoy because they rely on boaters who, as a favor, deploy the buoy in the spring and retrieve it before the ice sets in mid-fall. It’s a challenging venture in storm season, and last year, Atkinson said four ships passed the buoy before one was able to bring it back.

The researchers are hopeful vessels will continue assisting in the deployment process. They’re also looking for an open shed or other shelter to store the 6-foot-tall structure for future winter hibernations.

]]>11614Poet Travels to King Island from Nomehttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/07/01/10181/
Tue, 01 Jul 2014 21:27:22 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=10181Alaska poet and artist Joan Naviyuk Kane recently made a three day trip to King Island. It was part of a crowd-funded effort Kane designed to experiencing first hand where her mother’s family came from.]]>http://www.knom.org/wp-audio/2014/07/2014-07-01-Joan-Kane-King-Island-Trip.mp3

Alaska poet and artist Joan Naviyuk Kane recently made a three day trip to King Island. It was part of a crowd-funded effort Kane designed to experiencing first hand where her mother’s family came from.

“It was important for me to do it now, just to understand the place that was my mother’s home as a child. And be able to talk to my mother with a real understanding of what it meant to move, to have to move to Nome, to have to move to Anchorage. Sort of the complex choices that King Islanders had to make and we continue to have to make,” Kane explained.

Preparations for the trip were more than a year in the making, and included contingency plans in case of weather, as well as Kane pitching tents in her Anchorage yard during spare moments. Just to practice in case of any emergencies.

Earlier this month, Kane and three other women of King Island descent left Nome in a chartered ship. As Kane explained, “It took us 12 hours to get by boat over 90 miles from Nome—the small boat harbor—to King Island, involving Adem Boeckmann’s boat, Anchor Point, and a dingy we had to get back and forth from ship to shore.”

The group arrived near King Island at 3AM, and slept before ferrying equipment from the boat. Then, for several hours, they carefully ascending from the shore. Erosion and weather have erased many of the pre-made steps and trails, which meant Kane and her companions were making decisions about where and how to go on the fly. Concerns over safety and coordination were educative, Kane said.

“There’s nothing that actually stands in for going and making the trip first hand and try[ing] to understand the complexity of the place, and really deeply appreciating, one, how beautiful—absolutely beautiful the island is and the abundance of natural life there.”

After several more hours studying the original King Island settlement, the crew made their way carefully down to the boat before setting back off for Nome.

For Kane, the difficulty of simply getting to and from the island, along with extremeness of the terrain itself, was one of the experiences that has stuck with her since the trip.

“One of the big things that was on my mind was the tremendous amount of technology, and communication, and strong relationships that our King Islanders had. People that were not only able to make this trip as part of their yearly life, but also were able to do it and sustain such tremendous culture, complex language, ya know, a really sustainable–truly sustainable–lifestyle on the Bering Sea.”

Kane raised $49,000 in individual and match-funded donations through the Hatchfund organization.

]]>10181A farewell for the Little Sistershttp://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/06/30/a-farewell-for-the-little-sisters/
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/06/30/a-farewell-for-the-little-sisters/#commentsMon, 30 Jun 2014 21:04:41 +0000http://www.knom.org/wp/?p=10121After more than six decades in the sub-Arctic, the Little Sisters of Jesus are moving on to points south. Through your support, KNOM brought their incredible story to the airwaves.]]>

This month, one of the mainstays of our Western Alaskan community departs Nome.

The Little Sisters of Jesus, a religious order with more than six decades in the sub-Arctic, is moving on to points south. Through your support, KNOM brought their incredible story — and the story of their departure from Nome — to our listeners.

Sister Alice Sullivan, one of the Little Sisters, recently told KNOM what makes her order unique:

Our community [the Little Sisters of Jesus] does not do the ordinary things people are used to having Catholic sisters do. We don’t teach catechism. We don’t run hospitals. What we do is what Jesus did when he was walking the roads of Israel and Palestine. He was dealing with people individually. People who were sick, people who needed help. And that is how we accomplish our mission. We work with people on an individual level. But we choose very carefully the places we go to.

The first Little Sisters to come to sub-Arctic Alaska arrived in Nome in 1952. They were soon embraced by, and immersed themselves within, two of the Native communities KNOM would eventually serve: King Island and Little Diomede. The sisters’ first winters in Western Alaska introduced them to the challenges of our region’s traditional lifestyle — in particular, the subsistence way of life that is still cherished to this day — and it also enamored them to the faith communities of Nome and points beyond.

The Little Sisters’ work in Diomede, in particular, laid the groundwork for what would become Diomede’s (Catholic) church: no small feat, considering the village’s drastically challenging location, nestled among the cliffs of a remote Alaskan island in the middle of the Bering Strait.

After so many years in Nome, it was a bittersweet moment in late May, 2014, as the Little Sisters officially bid farewell to our community with a special Mass at Nome’s St. Joseph Catholic Church. Presiding at the event was Anchorage’s Archbishop Roger Schwietz, assisted by KNOM board president Father Ross Tozzi and board secretary Deacon Bob Froehle. The photos above show all of the Little Sisters (grouped at top), along with snapshots of the Mass: in particular, Sister Damiene addressing the congregation and holding up a special plaque presented to the Little Sisters by Archbishop Schwietz. Thanks to Nome’s Carol Gales for these photos!